Kaitou
by Hatake Shiko
Summary: An unfriendly meeting between two very alike people leads to something more. A story told by two men who hold the title of Phantom Thief. Kaitou Kid and Kaitou Dark compete for the same target, and the aftermath. xover with Detective Cona


A/N: This is a collaboration written between Friendless Girl(Hitherto known as Shiko) and Katreal. It was borne of boredom and was originally done as a roleplay. It is easy to see that fact in the style of the piece, constantly twisting from one POV to another. It has been left untouched, so it is possible to see where one started and the other ended. Maybe one day one of us will go back and rewrite it in more of a story format, but we're too lazy right now, it's almost 2 in the morning, and we just want to post this so that others can enjoy it as we have. By the way, -.-denotes a major time or scene change in the story itself, not in the POVs, if the POV switches between characters played by either Shiko or Kat then a – is used. If it's between characters played by the same person then it is : Conversation is not broken up though, that would just get confusing.

Kaitou

Being a kaitou was a lot more work than one would think. It wasn't just a matter of sending in a note, stealing the target, and then escaping. Oh no, there were so many preparations that had to be made, escape routes scouted, research to be conducted...in short it was a far more demanding job than the common person would think. Kuroba Kaito knew that fact far better than many, for his night job was that of a kaitou, a phantom thief. At the tender age of 17--not even an adult yet--he had taken up his father's mantle and had resurrected the Kaitou 1412, known to most of Japan as Kaitou Kid. He led the incompetent police on wild goose chases, stole and returned jewels that added into the billions of yen, and did it all while passing high school.

Kaito grinned cheekily at the thought, staring at the computer screen, but not quite seeing it. Aoko called him lazy...he was anything but lazy. After all, would a lazy person spend as much time and effort researching his next target, AND still find time to study? He highly doubted it. He turned his blue eyes back to the matter at hand; he had a week until his next heist, but still no target. He was running out of un-checked gems in the Tokyo area.

-

Being a phantom thief wasn't all it was cracked up to be. It wasn't just transforming, flying off to the target, and eluding the police. There were several key factors that were mixed into this. OF course, there was the all important, "Daisuke, Dark sent a note saying he will be stealing this tonight," as soon as he walked through the door. Then there was the actual planning out the heist, figuring out how and when to escape and what kind of power the item in question had. All in all, it was a lot to ask of a 14 year old boy who was still getting over his first crush. Ah yes, a 14 year old boy who had to live up to his Grandfather's- no, Dark's reputation from 50 years ago. Sure, it was fun to watch the police attempt to stop him from stealing said item, but in the end, the item would end up in his hands and would be sealed away.

Being a phantom thief had to be the greatest thing in the entire world! Being able to transform into his actual self and live every once in a while... flying off into the sunset with a beautiful girl in his arms... confusing the hell out of the police, especially that Satoshi. Oh what a rush he felt when he saw the determined look upon the young man's face when he realized that he had once again lost him. Sure, there were preparations to be made, but those were done by Daisuke and his family. All he had to do was "Strap" on Wiz and fly off, stealing said item and return it to the Niwa's for sealing, all the while eluding the stupid police and trying not to die by the hands of Krad. Yes, being a phantom thief was the best.

Daisuke looked over the news paper one last time before folding it up neatly and placing it in the garbage can. It would seem that there was a priceless artifact coming into the Tokyo area within a week's time and it looked suspiciously like an artifact that he had read about in a book once. 'Great,' he thought as he banged his head against his head lightly. 'Just what I need, another heist. How am I supposed to be a phantom thief AND keep up with my grades? They're starting to drop as it is...'

'Relax,' Dark chimed in his mind. 'We'll just steal it really quickly and then you can do your homework. Problem solved.'

Daisuke groaned and hit his head again as the phantom thief laughed inside of his mine, the sound echoing though out his head.

-

"Ah hah! There is a likely candidate!" Kaito couldn't help but exclaim aloud, a different sort of grin creeping across his face. It was no ordinary grin, it was the grin that sent the Kaitou Kid taskforce into a tizzy on every heist, a grin that irritated the hell out of Nakamori-keibu, and that sent anyone around him scrambling out of the way to avoid whatever nasty prank he had in the works. But, there was no one there to witness the Kaitou's famous expression, not even his mother was awake this late at night. He always found the wee hours of the morning to be the best time to plan (on weekends obviously), he was pretty sure his mother suspected something, but he wanted to keep her out of this business incase it blew up in his face and he was caught.

Not that it would happen, of course.

He eyed the picture on the museum's website; the large jewel that glittered on the 'New Arrivals!' page seemed VERY inviting. It was a stone type known as 'Mystic Fire', and while it wasn't very valuable on its own, the sheer size of the jewel, along with its setting and history, had garnered it decent net value. Not that he cared of course; he didn't steal things for the money, and ended up returning them later. The 'Sacred Heart'(really, they needed to come up with better names for these things) would be exhibited at one of the museums in the Tokyo area within the next few days, and he could easily fabricate some excuse to get away from the house and the Beika Area during that time. What could he say? Lying and deception was one of the chief skills of a magician.

Humming a cheerful tune, Kaito bookmarked the page and pulled out a piece of paper. As if by magic, his normally messy script shifted, becoming the elegant sharply angled scrawl characteristic to Kaitou Kid, and he began to draft the heist note.

-

"The Sacred Heart," Daisuke read from a book he confiscated from his Grandfather's study. "Able to warp a person's desire and increase it ten times over. It sounds really dangerous, Dark." Too dangerous for his liking, but he wasn't going to let the thief know that. He would probably tease the boy about it and he would never hear the end of it. "Why don't we intercept it before it reaches the museum just to make sure that nothing happens to it?"

Dark laughed once again, "What, are you afraid that it is going activate or something?" Daisuke turned toward the small mirror on his desk and stared at Dark's reflection inside of it. The teen shook his head and Dark smirked. "Then let me do it the way we have been doing it. It won't be fun if we changed our plans for just one heist. Besides, what's the worst that could happen?"

Daisuke shook his head and flipped the mirror so he couldn't see Dark's reflection anymore. Sometimes, he wasn't sure what to do with that man. "You'd better be right," was all he said before he picked the paper from the trash and walked out of his room, placing the paper on the table where his mother would see. She would write the note and then tell him about it later, for now, he had homework that he needed to do and a heist to plan.

-.-

'One week hence, I shall steal the heart of Pele. Not even the depth of the night will hide the sacred fire from my eyes...'

Nakamori-keibu read the heist note over and over again, it wasn't very hard to decipher the meaning, but that just made him feel like he was missing something. 'One week hence' was obvious, a week from the sending of the note. 'heart of Pele' was slightly more difficult, but added with 'sacred fire' made the target clear. It was the 'Sacred Heart', a jewel that had previously been exhibited on the island of Hawaii, which had been the origin of Pele. Pele was the goddess of fire, which pointed to the location, and the fact that the jewel type was known as Mystic Fire. All in all, it wasn't a very difficult code.

The strange thing was that Kid was not the only one targeting this stone. Another note had been received almost simultaneously, from one Kaitou Dark for the same time span. He knew that Kid worked alone, so why would two different thieves be after the same thing? Nakamori grunted and rubbed his forehead, they had two more days to gather a security force for the Sacred Heart...this time he figured he'd have to call in the big guns, both of these thieves had been a nuisance in the past and he knew better than to underestimate a Kaitou.

Kaito had finished with the arrangements. All that was left was for the play to begin.

He looked at the calendar, only two more days.

"What? You want me to help capture Kid again!?" Mouri Kogorou asked into the phone, "Wakata, wakata, I'll do it." With an irritated grunt he slammed the phone down on the receiver, "Taku, why do they waste the great Mouri Kogorou-sama's time with such a petty thief?"

'A petty thief you can't catch, Occhan.' Conan stifled a laugh from behind his hand, pretending to not pay attention to the grumbling adult behind the desk as he worked on his homework. 'I suppose it's time for another game, Kaitou-san.' In some weird way, he was looking forward to it.

-

"Nani?" The elderly man said as he stared at the TV. "Someone else has sent in a letter claiming that they are going to steal the heart? Who do they think they are?"

Daisuke merely shrugged at the news, it wasn't like it was anything new. People were always impersonating Dark and sending in fake notes. The fact that this one happened to be of the actual item he was going after was just a fluke, no more, no less. "I'm going to be upstairs going over the plans for the heist," he told his grandfather as the man continued to yell at the TV. Man, what was with his family and yelling at inanimate objects?

Dark, on the other hand, was unusually interested in the note. "I want to see what it says, Daisuke," he said as he mentally poked the boy.

"No, Dark," Daisuke said as he went up into his room and closed the door. "It said that the thief would steal the sacred heart. That thief is you-us. End of discussion." Dark pouted and crossed his arms over his chest.

"But this is the first time that someone has actually beaten us to the punch, the punch that we were winding up for!"

"Dark! I need to study, so shush!"

Dark frowned and went deeper into the youths mind to ponder about the note some more before it was dinner time.

Satoshi read over the notes and the normal frown he wore on his face deepened. "What is with this," he said as he threw both notes to the ground. "One clearly states the target while the other gives us clues to what they are going after. What does Dark think he is doing?"

"He obviously wants to confuse you," Krad whispered in the back of his mind. "Let me come out and take care of him for you..."

"Never," The boy said as he picked the papers up and walked out of the room. "But I think I will go have a look at that museum..."

-.-

"So this is what that cocky brat is after." Mouri Kogorou stood near the glass case with Nakamori-keibu, looking down at the gem displayed within. It was a white gold statuette of a woman, her hair and clothes were both fashioned from yellow gold, and directly over her heart was the multi-colored Mystic Topaz that had attracted the eyes of two famous thieves. "Don't worry Nakamori-keibu. The sleeping Mouri Kogorou-sama will not allow the thieves anywhere near the jewel!"

Nakamori looked at the laughing detective and felt a bead of sweat roll down the back of his neck; he couldn't understand how the man could be known as a 'meitantei', a great detective. But apparently the foolishness was just an act, and he completely changed when cornering a criminal. Plus... He glanced out of the corner of his eye at the small child that had tagged along with the detective, he wanted the kid here. That child...he'd almost caught the thief at least 3 times, which was more that anyone else could say. While it rankled him that a child could succeed where his own men could not, not even after years of attempts, he was not about to lose the chance to capture the criminal because of his pride.

Conan surveyed the room, looking for any contraptions Kid might have set up. He didn't see anything, but he wasn't surprised, there was still one day left before the promised heist, Mouri had just wanted to come to scout it out. Kid was the kind to set up things at the last moment.

The child put his hand to his chin in a thinking pose, making note of all the entrances and exits to the room, and the current security. It wouldn't delay Kid for long, his best bet would be to stake out Kid's escape route (the roof obviously, where else would night hide him?). The think that worried him was the second thief. Depending on how things went, that Kaitou could be the wrench thrown into both his and Kid's plans.

The night was looking to be quite interesting.

-

Daisuke looked over at the statue and smiled. It was indeed a beautiful piece of craftsman ship, and the metals that were used all but helped to compliment the piece. While he was "looking" at the statue, Daisuke began to take notes on all of the exits and what the security was like. It wasn't anything to difficult, there were a few places that seemed to obvious and others that would make it seem like he was trying to hard.

"You could always try the roof," a familiar voice said in Daisuke's ear, sending shivers down his back. "After all, isn't Wiz your only means of transportation? Or will you be attempting to take the bus?"

Daisuke closed his eyes and smiled, "nice to see you to, Satoshi. Why can't you just say 'hello' like normal people do instead of trying to be all macho?"

The blunette smirked a little and turned slightly so that he was facing Daisuke at an angle. "Where would the fun be in that," he pondered to himself out loud as he smirked. "Besides, it doesn't matter my greeting, tonight I will catch Dark, end of story."

"That's what you said last time," Daisuke said as he looked at the statue one last time. "And the time after that and the time after that and the list just continues to grow," he said as he turned and began to walk away from Satoshi. "Besides, shouldn't the police be more concerned with this new thief than Dark?"

Satoshi was about to comment, but Daisuke chose that moment to have a klutz attack and he tripped over a small boy. "AH!"

-

He hated being small. LOATHED it, as a matter of fact. He'd been soo glad to finally hit that growth spurt, to leave the days of runtiness behind But of course, fate screwed him over when he was given that drug and forced back a full ten or eleven years. He was even shorter than most boys his physical age were, and that was saying something. One of the reason he hated his vertically challenged status was the very reason he was now on the floor and trying to hold in some very non-grade-schooler language.

Conan's head was spinning from being knocked over to the floor, stars dancing around his head as he pushed himself into a seated position as carefully as possible to decrease the chance of a bout of fainting sending him back to the cold tile floor. Once the room stopped spinning he noticed the red-head that had been the cause of his unwanted meeting with the ground, and a blunette that had been with the red-head. He put on his little kid mask, and clamped his hands to his head, "Itai!"

-

"Ow," Daisuke said as he rubbed his head and sat up; looking over at the little kid he had run over. "I'm sorry," he told him as he stood up and held out his hand to the child. "I didn't mean to run into you, it's just that I didn't see you and..."

"What he's saying is that he is sorry that you are vertically challenged," Satoshi told him as he walked over to them. "How old are you kid, 5?"

"He can't be five, Satoshi," Daisuke said as he pointed to the outfit he was wearing. "I wore that outfit when I was at least 8 years old..." he stopped when he realized that they were probably hurting the boy's feelings by talking about his height. After all, height was a very important part of a boy's life.

There was an awkward silence between the two boys before Daisuke cleared his throat. "I think I might have some candy in my pocket if you want some," he said as he started fishing in his pockets for said sweet.

"KYAAA! It's a rat!" A person screamed as a white animal streaked across the floor and into Conan.

"WIZ!" Daisuke said surprised as the white rabbit thing looked up at Daisuke and seemed to smile.

"Kyuuu!" It said as it snuggled into the child.

-

Conan glowered at the two teenagers--they couldn't be more than 14 or 15. He was 17 thank you very much, not 7. Last time he checked, 17 was more than 1415, so they really didn't have any right to tease him like that. Of course, they didn't know he was anything more than a shrimpy grade-schooler, but it was the principle of the matter.

And he hated being called short! The blue haired one was getting on his nerves, but at least the other had tried to solve the situation without making him angry. But still...candy? Did everyone think that the only thing that mattered to a kid was sweets? He happened to enjoy a good mystery (barring the presence of a nearby murder case) more than he did candy. Then again, he wasn't too fond of sweets; he'd seen waay too many people poisoned through some sort of candy to have it sit well in his stomach.

He hadn't said a thing to either of the boys until something appeared to be flying out of nowhere and pounced on him. He gave a strangled sort of noise as he once again met the ground (he was taken by surprise) and his hands closed around the furry white body that had come to a rest on his chest. He looked up at the wide red eyes and the long ears; the first thing that came to mind was 'this is no rat. 'Truthfully, it looked more like a rabbit, "Gah! I don't have a carrot for you, rabbit-san!"

Ergh, that sounded stupid. Oh well, little kid. Gotta think little kid.

Conan gave a mentally exasperated sigh, oh how he wished for his normal body back...

-

"Kyuuu," Wiz said as it snuggled into Conan more.

"Wiz," Daisuke said as he grabbed the fur ball and practically sat on him as some adults ran past them, looking for the intruder. What was the fur ball thinking? Didn't he realize that he could get them both in trouble for being there? Worse than that, how was he going to explain this one to people? 'Sorry, my pet rabbit followed me to the exhibit?' "Um," Daisuke looked at the child and then laughed. "This is Wiz... my pet... rabbit... he likes to follow me around town?" He tried to sound convincing, but even he wouldn't believe that if he was a child.

Satoshi laughed at Daisuke's predicament and walked away. He really didn't need to be here for the rest of this, he had a certain thief to catch.

"Hey! Don't leave me!" Daisuke said as he frowned and then looked at Conan. "So, what's your name? My name is Niwa Daisuke and you already know Wiz. At the mention of his name, Wiz kyuued and popped his head out.

-

So it was a...rabbit... at least he had gotten that little fact correct and it wasn't some mutated squirrel. But how would a rabbit follow someone around town? He glanced up at Daisuke as he pushed himself into a seated position (again!), also how would a rabbit get past the security? They were normally far more careful at one of Kid's heists, especially since the thief was known to use animals in his plans. "His name's Wiz-u? Wai! He's such a cool little thing!"

Conan mentally cringed. There was necessary, and then there was humiliating. Unfortunately, he had to do the latter since he could feel Nakamori's eyes watching him like a hawk. He knew the Inspector suspected that there was more to him than a seven year old kid, how could he when he'd gone head to head with one of the slippery-est phantom thieves multiple times and almost caught him? Now he was trying his best to throw off that suspicion, even if his teenaged male pride had to be ground into the dust. At least the only other person he knew was Mouri, and that drunkard was not paying any attention whatsoever, "Boku wa Edogawa Conan! Nice to meetcha Dai-niisan and Wizu-san!" He had to concentrate a little to keep his voice in its higher pitched childlike tones. It was getting easier to don the mask as time passed by, but the voice was always a problem. He probably just relied on his bow-tie too much. Sometimes he was really envious of Kaitou Kid's wide range of voices he could easily and flawlessly access, "Whatcha doing at the museum, Dai-nii?"

-

Daisuke struggled to keep Wiz under control while trying to listen to both the child, who he now knew as Conan, and Dark. It would seem that Wiz had caused quite a stir in the museum and he was now a wanted... fluffy rabbit thing. If the guards caught him, then he would have to lie to them and figure out a better excuse if the time came. For now, he had other things to worry about, such as the kid and the even bigger kid in his head. 'Dark,' he said as he caught snippets of what the kid was saying. 'What's wrong?'

'We have to get out of here,' Dark reminded him. 'Your mom wanted us home early so she could fix our outfit since it got torn last time.' Daisuke physically grimaced as he remembered the last heist. That one had guard dogs; really mean and fast guard dogs with pointy teeth. They had managed to rip a good portion of the outfit they had been wearing and it now required his mother to fix it.

'It wouldn't have to be fixed if you had listened to me!' "Well," Daisuke said to Conan. "I wanted to see the statue before the Phantom thief stole it, he's very good you know."

"Excuse me," a man said as he pointed to Daisuke and Wiz. "We need you and that... thing to come with us." Daisuke sighed and picked up Wiz who squealed, wanting to go near Conan again. "Gomen, Conan, maybe we can talk another day." He smiled at the boy before he followed the guard into another room. This was not going to end well.

-

"Bai bai Dai-nii!" Conan waved as Daisuke was escorted out of the room, and let out a sigh of relief when he was able to drop his mask for a bit. Nakamori had gotten distracted by Kogorou and was grilling him unmercifully about his girly sounding scream earlier and the fact that he mistook some kind of rabbit for a rat. Conan cracked a small smile, wishing he had that on tape (or just had been looking in the correct direction) but alas, all he had was a memory.

He looked around the room once again; there wasn't much he could do until the time came. So Edogawa Conan, known to a select few as Kudou Shinichi, stuffed his hands into his pockets and settled in to wait until Mouri decided to go home for dinner.

-.-

Night quickly settled over the land and a very annoyed Phantom Thief stood on top of the museum. "I am going to kill Wiz," he said as his left eye twitched. Because of all of the commotion with the Phantom Thief, Wiz had been sent to the pound until further notice and Daisuke's mom couldn't get him out until the heist was over. In short, Dark was screwed, royally screwed. Hell, there was nothing that could make this night any worse other than if it started to rain or if he suddenly turned gay. The purple haired thief cracked his neck and made his way toward the air duct that would lead him to the heart. So he was over exagurating about being royally screwed, who really cared? If he really needed Wiz that bad, all he had to do was call him.

"Now then," he said as he lifted the cover and climbed inside. "Lets see how fast this takes me..."

'Don't forget about the other thief, Dark," Daisuke reminded him. "I know," he smirked as he slid down. "I know..."

-

Kaito hummed softly to himself as he managed to both secure a position inside the Heart room, AND avoid having his face pinched by an overly cautious Nakamori and Mouri(it was scary how the two were alike, although he had to admit Nakamori was more intelligent). He'd worked some pinch lines into the face of his mask already, so the two guardians believed they had already checked him.

Kid tugged a little at his officer's cap, pulling it down farther over his eyes. He wasn't sure if the inspector had figured it out by now, but there was almost always one flaw in his disguise, the eyes. They weren't as bright when he just used a mask, which made them look strange. The only way to get around it was to use his own eyes (he didn't take that option often because his blue-ish purple coloring was easily recognizable) or to wear contacts. Normally he wore contacts, but today he didn't really have much time to fiddle with them. Besides, even if he was caught now, it didn't matter. He'd already lifted the jewel from the statuette when he and another officer had inspected the case (he'd managed to take the place of the resident stone expert on the force, so they'd called him over to see if it was real or not). Really, one would think that Nakamori would figure out that letting ANYONE near the target was a bad idea. Oh well, this way the heist was an easy take, and he didn't have to worry about the second thief that he had heard about. No one took Kid's declared heist like that, and those that did only ended up chasing a fake copy.

His eyes, like all the other officers, were glued to the clock. Only a few minutes more until the declared time. "I'm waiting, Kaitou-san..." The deep gravelly tones of the officer came out of his mouth, and he heard the guard murmur an agreement next to him. It looks like they were all waiting. He was curious as to who his unfortunate rival was.

Conan's eyes narrowed as he saw the purple haired youth slip inside the air duct, taking a mental picture of the thief and adding it to his growing mental file. Really, he had a real picture; he'd snapped it from his hiding place when the thief first appeared. The camera was one of Dr. Agasa's inventions. It was an add-on to his glasses, and utilized their night vision capabilities to negate the need for a flash, thus allowing him to take clear pictures at night without giving him away. He'd have to start a real file on this thief too.

Once the purple haired youth vanished, Conan flipped his glasses into pursuit mode. He'd placed a transmitter on the stone earlier that day when Mouri had requested to see the target outside of the case. It was some hair-brained reason, but since he was a meitantei (Conan was barely able to contain a snort at that) the officers had accepted the request and had taken it out of the glass. There, Conan was able to attach a transmitter (it was far less noticeable than the sticker ones, thank goodness for the Doc's habit of improving his inventions) so he'd know the second the jewel left the room.

Now, all that was left was for Kid's show to begin.

-

Dark was not having an easy time finding the room that heart was contained in. Normally, he would have just flown in with Wiz and would have been out of there by now. "It's all because of the stupid Wiz," he mumbled as he found an exit. "If he had just stayed at home like he had been told, none of this would have happened!" He opened the air shaft opening and poked his head through the opening. He frowned when he found the security camera room, the room that he had already visited earlier in the week.

"Damn," he said under his breath as he saw the two guards watching something while they laughed.

"KYAAA!! It's a RAT!"

Dark blinked and Daisuke erupted in laughter. On the screen was a man, a detective no less, yelling like a little girl. 'I remember him,' Daisuke said as he continued to laugh. 'He says that he is the best detective and that he will catch the Phantom Thief... and then he screamed when Wiz came into the exhibit room.'

Dark nodded and decided that he wanted a little... souvenir to remember the heist. He soundlessly dropped down into the room and walked over to the guards. He then grabbed both of their heads and smashed them together, knocking them out instantly. He smirked and went over to the TV and retrieved the tape. "I thank you for this generous donation," he said with a mock salute before he disrobed them and put on one of their outfits. He then walked out of the room and proceeded down a few hallways. He smirked when he reached the exhibition room and walked in, nodding at a few of the guards as he passed. He glanced at the display case for a moment, before he walked past it, going up to a certain guard nearby. He couldn't feel the magic from the jewel in the case, it was coming from this person.

"Hey there," he whispered, his voice like velvet. "IT seems I'm in need of a heart transplant. YOU seem to have two hearts... do you mind handing over the sacred one to me?"

Satoshi watched as two of the guards spoke to one another, no doubt about Dark. The Phantom Thief was late tonight, no doubt because he didn't have Wiz. The young teen smirked and petted the bag he had slung over his shoulder. The bag "kyuued" and started to squirm until it got tired.

The teen smirked and then walked away, getting ready for when Dark would need to escape.

-

Kaitou Kid's fearless smile did not waver; it seems the thief was more skilled than he had previously expected. No matter, he wasn't too worried. "I'm afraid I cannot spare it, so you'll have to make due with a less...valuable substitute." He tilted his head in the direction of the display case, "A lower quality gem for a lower quality thief."

"Hey you! Quit yapping! Kid will be here in less than a minute!" Nakamori's voice rang out through the small room; the inspector had finally noticed the social tendency of two of his guards.

"Actually, keibu, I think I'll show myself a little early!" Kid grinned and discretely dropped a smoke bomb, the light pink color spreading throughout the room as he quickly changed out of the officer's uniform and into his normal white, old style suit. When the smoke cleared, Kaitou Kid stood amidst the guards in all his grinning glory, the expression on his face just inviting the members of the Kaitou task force to try and capture him. "And it so happens, that we have a guest star tonight, Nakamori-keibu!"

The thief swiped the other guard's hat, freeing the purple hair and revealing his identity, "I hope you all will give a round of applause to Dark-sama! He did manage to get this far, even though the true prize had already been won." Kid clapped lightly, before dropping another smoke bomb, "Better luck next time!"

Nakamori's face was turning red and he started barking out orders when he noticed that Kid was gone when the smoke cleared, "What are you all standing around for!? Get that top-hatted thief! Some of you take care of the other one as well!"

Kid slipped out of the room (once again disguised as an officer) as the police stormed the exits, and he began to make his way to the roof. Really, you'd think Nakamori would learn the most basic of his tricks by now. He wondered if the other thief had managed to slip out in the confusion.

Conan's smile widened as the transmitter started to move. "Come on, 1412."

-

Dark stood still for several moments, letting what the young man's words sink in. "Low quality..." he mumbled as he clenched his fists. "He thinks I'm low quality... He thinks that I'm low quality..." A burning sensation started to crawl from the pit of Dark's stomach and made its way to his chest. He hadn't felt this in so long... the actual need to do prove himself to someone. His reputation was on the line here; hell, his pride was on the line. "You're not getting away that easy!" He yelled as he began to run in the direction of the stairs. Several guards had tried to stop him, but he merely threw them into a wall and continued on his way.

This kid claimed to be a thief; he claimed to be a better thief than Dark... Oh this kid... this mere child, he would have to teach him a lesson... "Come Wiz!" He said with out realizing it. He then blinked and mentally hit himself; Wiz was at the pound, he couldn't help him with his revenge at the moment. "Well, then, it's just you and me, Daisuke," he said as he ran up the flights of stairs, reaching the roof in a matter of moments.

"Come out, Kid," he yelled, a smirk on his face. "This is the only safe way out of the museum with out getting caught, and since I made my escape route here, I would think that you would have made yours here too." He heard someone stepping out and saw Satoshi from the corner of his eye. "Ah, little police man, what a pleasant surprise," he said as he continued to look over the roof. "By chance did you see a fool dressed in white come up here? He has something that belongs to me and I would like it back."

Satoshi stared at Dark as the man continued to scan the roof top. Did the other thief really take the heart before Dark did? "Are you saying that this... imposter thief has the heart?"

"Yup," Dark said as he tore off the security guard clothes and threw them on the ground. "And he is now on my list; no one calls Dark Mousy a low quality thief and gets away with it. Well, no one except Krad," he said with a smirk as Satoshi grabbed his chest in pain.

"Shut your mouth," he told him as he back up. "Do you want him here?"

"If it helps me get that low life, wanna be thief who can't even do a magic trick correctly, then yes." Dark said as his eyes darkened. "Then yes."

-

Kid stuffed his gloved fist into his mouth to stop himself from laughing aloud, he'd reached the roof ahead of the older man due to one reason, he'd left before him, and was now hiding in the shadow of the building's ventilation unit. The sound from the machinery was enough to muffle the small sound that escaped the blockade of his hands as well as hide him from plain view. He knew the smartest thing would have been to leave the second he got into the clear, but where was the fun in that? Besides, it wasn't like he didn't know the little tantei-kun was just waiting for that opportunity so he could try and hit him with his stun-gun.

Plus, he wanted to see how ruffled the purple haired kaitou would be. It must be pretty bad if he was conspiring with a cop to catch him.

"Now, now, Dark-sama. Don't go conspiring with the enemy. What happened to the comadarie between fellow law breakers?" Kaitou Kid slipped out of his hiding spot, and leaned against the guardrail near the roof's edge, if he really wanted to he could just flip over the low concrete wall and get his hang-glider activated within a few seconds and be on his way. But confronting them first...well, it gave him a better chance of possibly distracting Tantei-kun and getting away without crashing. Of course, he'd get away even if he crashed, but he didn't feel like repairing his glider again.

Conan looked between the two thieves, and the "little police man". He only had a couple shots for his stun-watch, and only a limited amount of inflatable soccer balls. He'd wait for the opportune moment.

-

Aha! There he was, the man of the hour, well, his last hour as a free man, at least. "There you are you little trouble maker," he said as he ran over to the white clad man and tackled him, wrapping his arms around the thief. "Don't you think even for a second that I am going to-" he couldn't finish his sentence because he felt his feet rolling forward as the other thief bent back, tipping over the side of the roof. That wasn't' good. 'Shoot,' he said in his mind as everything seemed to slow down. He didn't have Wiz on him... he couldn't fly to safety... sure he had some cord and other miscellaneous items on his person, but nothing that would really help him in a situation like this.

Ways to escape started to formulate in his mind, but one was flawed. Sure, he could use a grappling hook, but that would rip the tendons in his arm, thus making him let go and get hurt. Damn, he was really in a fix. It was times like this where he really needed, "WIZ!"

Satoshi's bag started to squirm almost violently and the young teen had to use both arms to keep it from ripping apart. "DARK!" He yelled as he ran after the thief, watching as he tripped over the edge with the white clad man. "Damn it!" He was almost there when he tripped over a certain lump that was hidden in the shadows. Satoshi, seeing as how he was a bit more flexible than Daisuke was, was able to use his hands to flip in the hair once they touched the ground and he was able to land on his feet. The bag, however, started to move as soon as it reached the ground, going in the direction of Dark and then going to toward the lump.

"Gah," Satoshi said as he tried to grab the bag, missing a few times, but finally pinning it to the ground. "Stay put, you damn thing!"

-

Everyone is tripping over me today! Conan picked himself up and glared at the blue haired boy who was running after a moving bag. Damn, it was even the same person. But he didn't have time. Conan ran over to the edge of the roof, watching the battling thieves as they kept grappling each other in the air. It didn't look like either wanted to give up and let the other go so they could save themselves, "Stupid thieves!" He shouted, "Use your glider Kid! It'll slow your fall enough so that it won't be fatal!"

Kid glanced at the chibified detective, "I know that Tantei-kun! But I'm a _little_ busy!" The other thief had pinned his arms, so he couldn't pull the release for his glider. The wind was loud in his ears, and they were now too far away for him to hear what the little detective was saying, even though he could still see that his mouth was moving. He craned his neck a little, the ground was getting closer, but he still could salvage the situation if he could just get the glider open! The clover charm on his monocle was being blown around in the wind and kept whacking the other thief in the face, which gave Kid an idea. "Hey you! If you don't want to become a very messy stain on the ground, let go of my arms and hang on!"

"Damn it Kid." Conan mumbled to himself, watching as they were getting closer to the ground, "If you die, I won't forgive you!"

-

Satoshi grabbed the bag and ran over to the edge as well. "DARK! Listen to the little runt and let go of his arms! I will not have you die on me before I have a chance to bring you in! Do you hear me?" Said thief slid down Kid's body until he was gripping onto the young man's ass, and if Satoshi was correct, he was smirking as he did so.

Dark slid his way down the young thief's body, unable to hear what Satoshi was saying. Heck, he didn't know that the young police boy was talking to him. He smirked when his hands rested on the thief's ass and he gave it a rough squeeze. "You'd better be thankful that my partner couldn't come tonight," he whispered seductively in Kid's ear. "For this would have been a lot more fun if I was in control... and we wouldn't be in this predicament." He paused and then slid one of his hands up over the thief's chest and to his face. "What an interesting fashion statement," he said as he fingered the monocle on his face. "But come," he said as it retreated and returned to the mans rump. "Save us so we don't become a stain..."

-

Kid REALLY hoped they were far enough that the kid didn't see how Dark was acting. While his long practiced poker face was keeping him outwardly calm, the teenaged boy in him was going 'Ew! He has to be at least in his mid twenties!' But he took the handling all in stride and with his arms free, quickly buckled the restraint for his glider and pulled the release cord. It was a good thing the other thief had slid down; otherwise he would have been on the wrong side of the glider. As it was, he was glad he'd chosen to use a smaller model; the thief would've been knocked off if he'd opened his normal one. Even if the guy was trying to stop him, Kid had a reputation to maintain, there was to be no casualties on his heists.

The white wings popped open and the fall began to slow, but that was all that happened. They were too heavy, and there wasn't enough room to get anywhere significant. As if by chance he looked back up at the building, and saw the Tantei-kun as a speck against the sky. Once again he was saying something and pointing off in the distance. The Kid looked in that direction and he understood. The museum was near a river! It would further decrease the chance for a fatality. If the other thief could swim, that is. He adjusted the falling glider's path toward the water, and was glad that he'd fallen on the riverside of the museum. With the distance they had left toward the ground, he just barely had enough room to get over the water enough to cushion the fall. It was coming closer, faster. Kaitou Kid took a deep breath, and waited for the crash.

Conan whirled around, glad that the thief had gotten the message, and made a beeline toward the door, pulling his skateboard out of his backpack. He dropped it onto the stairs and hopped on (a dangerous maneuver to be sure, but he didn't have much time); pressing the turbo switch and racing down the stairs past confused police officers. He had to get to that river-!

-

Satoshi saw them going toward the river and smiled, so maybe the other thief wasn't so stupid after all. He turned to run after the young boy who was probably going to the river when he realized something: his bag was empty.

Dark saw the river and raised an eye brow. Oh, this was going to be fun, he really didn't want to get wet tonight. If he had his wet suit on, sure, he wouldn't have minded the swim... But this was leather and spandex. They did not mix with water, ever. "WIZ!" He yelled as they got closer to the water. "If you ever want to eat another strawberry ever again, get over here!"

There was a flash of light and Dark felt the familiar weight of Wiz on his back. He smirked, his wings stretching over both him and Kid. "Well," he said as he smirked. "Since you helped me, I guess I'll help you." He grabbed onto him again and made a sharp turn up, bringing their feet to rest about a half a foot from the water. The force of the stop, however, made something fall out of Dark's pocket and into the water. "Damn it!" He yelled as he watched the glittering gem fall into the water, hoping the other thief didn't see it.

-

Kid watched the gem fall into the river, his eye twitching a little as he turned his face to look up at the thief that was carrying him, "You are so lucky that was not the gem I needed." Even then, he was still steamed. He hated failing a heist. While yes he did indeed steal the target successfully, he didn't count the heist completed until he returned it and now it was in the river. It was one thing if Tantei-kun stopped him, that kid was his rival (even more so than the ice block Hakuba). But for some other thief to foil his plans? That was a hard blow to his professional pride. At least he'd kept the other from making off with it, so it ended in a tie.

Conan made it to the riverside just when Dark stopped the fall. He hopped off the skateboard and reached down, switching his kick shoes to full power. The second either thief touched the ground, he'd knock Kid out. Dark wasn't his problem.

-

"Then I have failed," he said with a smirk. "Then again, I guess you have as well." He turned and saw the kid that Daisuke saw earlier and smirked. "Awww, little Conan-chan is waiting for you," he said as he started to fly over to the little kid. For some reason, his thief senses were kicked into high gear and he felt weary about this boy. "On second thought," he said as he loosened his grip on Kid. "As a free gift, I am going to give you a bath." He smiled and let go of the thief, letting him hit the water.

"You can thank me later," he said as he smirked and flew off, brushing past Conan as he went. "See ya later, Conan-chan!" He laughed and flew off into the sky, intent on coming back the next day and getting that gem.

Satoshi watched as Dark flew off and hit a tree trunk. He had missed him again...

-

Kaitou Kid hit the water with a loud smack, yelling curses in his head as he fought to break the surface again. In a way, this was a better alternative than being dropped off on the bank; he had seen the Tantei-kun getting prepared to pelt him with a random stone/inflatable soccer ball the second he was over land. This way he'd face the child on his own terms, in full control.

He trudged onto the bank, easily ducking the black and white projectile that was sent whizzing to his head, "Look Tantei-kun, I've had enough close calls today, any chance you'd let me get away quietly this time?"

His answer came in the form of another soccer ball. He dodged it again; he didn't think the justice-minded detective would agree with him, "Guess not. Well, I'm afraid it's getting late and all good children should be in bed by now." He reached into his sleeve, glad that his flash bombs could operate even when he was soaked to the bone, "Oyasumi nasai Tantei-kun." He flicked his wrist, and the bomb fell out of his sleeve and onto the ground. He used the distraction to escape into the woods, where he quickly changed and disappeared into the city streets. He cringed, anticipating the scolding he'd get from his mother if she saw him soaked to the bone.

"DAMN IT!" Conan yelled aloud, forgetting for moment that grade-schoolers didn't curse. Then again, most grade-schoolers weren't out this late chasing down an international criminal. At least Kid was still alive, he'd wondered if the thief would make it out this time. He hadn't been kidding when he told the thief he would not forgive him if he died. If the grinning monocled maniac went off and died on him, he'd strike a deal with the devil, bring him back to life, and then throw him into the deepest, darkest, prison available for the rest of eternity.

"I'll get that stupid thief...I'll open that Pandora's Box one day..."

-

Satoshi ran up to Conan and hit him lightly on the head. "Children shouldn't cuss," he told him as he eyed him. "Besides, don't you know that it's dangerous to hang around places like this at night?" He had been watching the kid since he left the museum and he struck him as being an odd ball. For one, it seemed like he was waiting for Kid to come out of the water... and he seemed upset when the heist was foiled. 'He must be the son of the person the thief works for,' he concluded as a plan began to form in him mind. 'I could use this...'

"You again." Conan rubbed his head, too irritated at the night's events to bother putting on his mask, "Just leave me alone and let me sulk in peace before I have to go back to Occhan"

The boy paused, glancing up at the blunette who was only illuminated by moonlight, now that he thought about it; it was strange to have someone this young in a police operation. He himself was 17, almost an adult, and even then it was only because of his meitantei deductive skills that he was allowed on a crime scene. As Conan, his only ticket in was his connection to Mouri. It was frustrating to know that some 14 year old could easily access what it took a bit of effort for him to do. It wasn't like he was some kind of famous high school detective like Hattori, Hakuba, and himself. He made it his business to keep an ear to the ground when listening for the high school detectives.

"As I thought," he said as he grabbed onto the small child and pressed something against his mouth and nose. "Sorry kid, nothing personal, but I need Dark." The chlorofomed napkin remained on the child until Satoshi was sure that he would be no trouble to him. He really didn't want to have to involve someone as innocent as him, but if he took him now, he could get him away from the life of crime... allow him to start over while he still had a chance. That, and Satoshi would have a chance to capture Dark and Kid... not so much Kid as Dark though. "Gomen nasai, Conan."

-.-

Kaito adjusted his cap as he leaned against the light post outside of Teitan Elementary School. This was an after-heist tradition; he always stopped by to check up on the little detective to make sure that nothing had happened to his cute little rival. He also enjoyed glimpsing the frustration that lingered on the child's face after being outsmarted. He figured it wasn't something that happened often to the bright little boy, so he always gave himself a mental pat on the back whenever he could spot that look and he knew that he had been the one to put it there. He didn't bother donning a disguise today, not except for the cap. Normally he wouldn't even wear that, but there was a chance that the Mouri girl would be here to pick up the kids, and he really didn't want to draw attention to himself if she saw him and mistook him for her missing boyfriend.

The bell rang, and the students were let out. He scanned the crowd for the group he was looking for and found them with little effort. He frowned when the one he was looking for was not there and melted back into the afternoon Beika crowds. He had a phone call to make.

_Ring._

"Moshi moshi? Mouri residence."

"Yo Ran."

"Ah! Shinichi!?" Ran almost dropped the phone from surprise before shouldering it, "Wow, what's the matter?"

"I'm just wondering where the four-eyed kid is. I wanted to ask him about the Kid heist last night to add it to my files."

"Conan-kun? We don't know...he didn't come home with Dad last night." Ran's surprise wore off at the reminder of her worries and her spirits sank, "If you really want the info, I can ask Dad to give it to you."

"No...It can wait. Thank you Ran."

Kaito hung up the phone and coughed a little, Shinichi's voice was a little difficult on his vocal cords. Since their voices were so similar, if he didn't make an effort to let his voice settle back into its normal timbre, he could start talking in it without realizing it. He looked up at the sky, "What happened after I left, Tantei-kun?"

-

_Kaitou Kid,_

_What did you leave behind last night?_

Satoshi smirked at his little note and sent it to the papers, telling them that they had to print it and that the news stations had to read it. "It's police business," he would tell them calmly before he walked off. He grinned at the thought of finally catching Dark, oh how glorious that would be. He walked into his room and went straight over to where the small child had been tied to a chair.

"Hello, Conan-chan," he said as he brought over another chair so he could sit in front of him. "Do you know why you are here, Conan-chan?"

"No I don't keibu-chan." Conan bit back, flexing his muscles a little to get the feel of the ropes he was tide up with. Unfortunately, this kid did a thorough job and there was hardly enough room for him to breathe, much less enough room to free himself. He did wonder about what the boy suspected to have taken such drastic measures to capture a grade-schooler, first chloroform and now ropes?, "Would you mind enlightening me?" He put on his best 'I'm-an-innocent-8-year-old' face and voice.

"You know Kaitou Kid personally," he told Conan. "Not only that, you were at the crime scene both before the heist and during it. That strikes me odd, most kids your age would only dream of getting close to someone like Kid. You seem to know him pretty well, if fact, when given the choice, you told him not to die." He leaned in closer to Conan and his eyes turned gold for a few seconds. "I want to lure Kid out so I can catch an even bigger fish... one who is after your little Kid."

"Uncle Mouri brought me!" Conan pretended to look scared, his eyes widening behind his glasses as he looked up at his captor, "He was hired to help protect the jewel, but Ran-neechan was sick last night so he was forced to bring me so she could get some rest!" This kid was dangerous, especially if he was willing to involve an innocent in his hunt for someone. While he wasn't really an innocent, what if some other kid had been there last night? From what he could see of this teenager, he would have snatched them as well, "And I dunno Kiddo. I've only stumbled into him on a couple of his hei- high- er jobs." He laughed nervously, "Gomen ne keibu-niisan, demo, I don't think Kid will come for me."

"Oh, he'll come," Satoshi said as his voice cracked. "And then Dark will come looking for him."

Pain suddenly enveloped him and he fell to the floor. "Damn, not now..." he said through clenched teeth before he bolted out of the room. A few minutes late, a scream could be heard echoing down the halls and into the room. Krad smirked as he stood up and brushed off his clothes. This was going to be interesting. Satoshi was too kind hearted to do what needed to be done, but Krad would pull all the stops.

The scream chilled Conan to the bone, sending a shiver up his spine. That was the teenager he had just been speaking to. His eyes widened slightly, a conclusion forming in his mind. He'd long since realized that he was a body magnet (and as weird as it sounded, he wasn't all that worried about it. Better him than say, Ayumi-chan. He could handle them) and really hoped the teenager had not been hit by his curse. The room went quiet and Conan set his jaw, if a murder had just happened, the murderer would be coming in soon enough

The Angel walked into the room where Conan was and smirked before seating himself in the same seat Satoshi had been sitting. "Hello there, Chibi-san," he said with a chuckle. "Now then, are you going to cooperate with me? Or do I need to get rough?" He heard Satoshi in the back of his mind, but brushed it off like he always did. Right now, this was his fight, not Satoshi's. Dark was his prey, his reason for living. "I want you to tell me everything you know about KID, understand?"

'Good cop, bad cop routine, eh? I'm sure I can guess which was which...' In response to the newcomer's demand, Conan's eyes widened, "Hai! Kiddo...eto...he's a thief! He likes going after art, but mostly large jewelry. Eto...he uses a hang-glider to escape from the police! Occhan calls him a 'slippery bastard'." Conan purposefully stumbled over the word, even though it was a term he used to describe the annoying thief. "Um..." What else would a grade-schooler know..."He's afraid of soccer balls! Whenever I see him, I kick one at him and he runs away! It' not like I could knock him out with a soccer ball, so I dun understand why he runs..." He blinked innocently up at the blonde man, adding a tremble to his lip for effect, "Does that help Onii-san?" Now that he thought about it, why were the two wearing the same clothes? To maybe confuse him?

"No," he said as he closed in on Conan's face. "It's not, now stop lying to me, brat." He smirked as he ripped the ropes off of the child's body, making sure that they rubbed against the child's skin. He then stood up and kicked Conan's chair to the side, causing the child to fall to the ground. "Do you know how I know your lying, child," he said as he picked Conan up by the front of his shirt. "It's because I am one of the oldest things on this Earth... and I know more than you ever will." He sniffed Conan's hair and his eyes widened. "Although it seems that KID isn't the only one with a secret, eh, Chibi?"

Conan set his jaw, deciding that the cute and innocent act just wouldn't cut it against this enemy. His sides and arms were throbbing from the rope burns, and his back ached from being thrown to the floor, but he didn't show it beyond a small wince. "Everyone has secrets, Onii-san. I'm sure you have your own." He paused, dropping the childish tone in his voice, "And I wasn't lying. Kid is all of those things. Except for the soccer ball part. He runs, because he knows that I WILL knock him out."

"Of course he would," Krad said as he laughed. "A ball kicked by a 17 year old male is bound to do some damage... although something confuses me..." He brought the boy up to his eye level and stared at him. "How is it that you have walked on this Earth for 17 years yet you look like you have been walking on it for about 7? Tell me, little one, how is this possible?"

"Not just any 17 year old male, but a soccer-fanatic with a karate background." Conan said smugly, before his mind processed what had just been said, "Wait, how do you know about that?" The he paused, and crossed his arms, "Never mind, I know what you're going to say." It was probably the same thing he'd just said as to how he knew that Conan was lying. The whole 'oldest thing to walk the earth' stuff. "As for how...simple, I was given a drug and experience unprecedented side effects."

"Interesting," he said as he dropped Conan on his butt and backed away from him a little. "So let me guess, little human, you can't return to your normal size, correct?" He laughed at this and then brushed some of his bangs from his eyes. "And as for knowing, I know a lot about life..." he said as he shrugged one of his shoulders lazily. "I could tell you the age of anything you wanted," he said with a smug look on his face. "But it's pretty pointless, unless artifacts are concerned."

"No I can't. But I'm working on that minor detail." Conan climbed to his feet and ignored the pain he was feeling through almost every major area of his body. Although this blonde guy hadn't actually tortured him, the rough way he was being handled was starting to take its toll on his small, weak eight year old body. "Why is it you really want to catch Kid? He's my prey."

"Oh, I don't want that wannabe thief," he told him as he smirked. "The only person I am after is Dark, the legendary Phantom Thief!" He laughed and then thought of something. His grin rivaled that of a Cheshire cat as he clapped his hands together and began to chant. Soon, Conan was engulfed in a strange light and when it died, a 17 year old Conan stood there. "How much do you want that form back, human?"

"More than you know." Conan, no, Shinichi looked down at his hands, marveling at how right it seemed to be his true age again. But...his fist clenched, his nails biting into he palm of his hands. It seemed to be cheating if he relied on magic. He was a detective, he had to find the truth of the Org and bring them down before he could return to himself. He also had Haibara to think about, he couldn't in his right mind abandon her on her search for a scientifically proven cure. "But...not enough to take the easy way out at make a deal with the devil."

Krad frowned and waved his hand, transforming the young man back into a child again. "The Devil, you say," he said as he rubbed his chin absently. "Sorry, but I am known as an Angel, not the devil. If you want the devil, then go see Dark, the fallen Angel." He smirked and grabbed Conan once again to lift him to his height. "Well, Chibi-chan," he said with a smirk. "I guess we will just have to see who the real devil is, huh, Chibi-chan?

"I guess." Conan crossed his arms again, "Can I go, please?"

"Nope," Krad said as he smirked and hit Conan on the head, knocking the boy out. "But I still have plans for you, boy." He felt the familiar tug of Satoshi weighing on his mind and he smiled. "Satoshi, I just did what you could not do... but I think you can handle it from here." He closed his eyes and felt the familiar change as his body shrunk and Satoshi stood in his place. "Damn you, Krad," he said as he clenched his fists. He looked down at Conan and then carried the child to his bed. "Gomen..."

-.-

"Did you see the news last night?" The last period of the day was going by painfully slowly for one Kuroba Kaito. He'd called back as Shinichi before going to school that day, but the kid was still missing. He'd been stewing over it since he'd found out the day before, he hated not knowing where his rival was. Kaito blinked, reviewing that thought in his head, jeez, that made him sound like a stalker.

"Yeah! Isn't it odd? There's a note in the paper for the Kaitou KID!"

Wha? Rewind and replay that. A note? "Kid left a note?"

"No." The brown haired girl--one of Aoko's friends--shook her head "Someone sent a note TO the thief through the paper."

"What'd it say?" He hadn't checked the paper yet, his mind had been occupied with something else and he had pushed it off for later. He was just lucky that his unofficial status as Kaitou Kid's biggest fan removed any suspicion over the question.

"It wasn't very direct, just..." She paused to think, "How did it go again?"

"'What did you leave behind last night?'" The other girl who'd been a part of the conversation finally spoke up, "I think that was how it went."

Kaito froze, that was direct. As direct as it could be. It was either talking about the jewel, or the kid. His fist clenched, but his poker face would allow him through the rest of the period without giving him away. After that...he needed to reclaim what was his.

The little detective was his rival, and Kaito wished to keep the kid out of harm's way.

-

Daisuke, suited up in swimming gear, made his way toward the river that the gem had been dropped in. "You know that this is still all your fault, right?" He seemed to be talking to no one, but a small "Kyuuu" would tell people other wise. A small bundle of white poked its head out from his suit and smiled at Daisuke. "And don't give me that look! Dark and I could have died last night because of you! From now on, you have to listen to us when we tell you things."

'Go easy on him,' a voice said in his mind. 'After all, we need him still.'

'I know,' Daisuke said as he put his bag down and crouched behind a bush. "Now all I have to do is wait until a little later and then we can get the gem..."

Satoshi carried the unconscious Conan to the river bank and placed him on the sand. He still felt sad that Krad had done that to him, but he had to do what he had to do. 'Come Kid... come and bring Dark with you!'

-.-

Once night had settled, Kaito found himself on the streets near the river he had climbed out of the night before. It had taken some work, but he was here. It had been even more difficult than usual to shake Aoko, the girl had to have a sixth sense or something since he'd just barely managed to keep from getting caught and dragged off to the mall after school. Knowing Aoko, she'd have been out shopping until the mall closed, and then she'd drag him home to watch a movie or something. Something he didn't have time for if he wanted to find the Chibi-Tantei.

He pulled the baseball cap low over his face, he didn't dare come back to the scene of the crime in full Kid regalia. He may be show-offy, but he wasn't stupid. The only thing that would identify him as Kid could be the monocle and the clover charm that dangled from it. If he was caught by the police, they would chalk it up to his obsession with the thief, especially since Nakamori had been firmly convinced that Kaito was not the Kaitou. He wasn't too worried about being unmasked either, Kid was a master of disguise, so why not use the disguise of one Kuroba Kaito, the amateur high school magician?

"Edogawa..." Kaito didn't use the child's name much, but the situation was somewhat curious, "Where the hell are you?" He had briefly considered the option that the little detective had kidnapped himself just to draw him out, but he'd discarded it almost immediately. The detective had more honor than that, and had proven that he would catch him the old fashion way.

-

Satoshi heard someone coming and stood up; preparing himself for the battle that was coming. He looked over at Conan and frowned. "Again, Gomen."

"For what?" Satoshi looked away and saw Daisuke is full diving gear. He felt his face heat up and he shook his head.

"Niwa! What are you doing here?! Don't you know that it's dangerous to be here late at night?"

"Yup," the boy said with a grin. "That's why I chose to come here to get the heart... is someone coming or is it my imagination?"

-

Kaito paused, he heard voices again. Neither was the one he was looking for, but this was the only place the note could have been pointing to. He continued his walk, exiting out of the trees to the small cleared area he had last seen the little detective in. It was far from empty, the police officer he'd briefly met the night before was arguing (or it looked like arguing) with another, unfamiliar boy. He looked between the two before calling attention to himself, "Hey, I'm looking for a lost puppy of mine. He's about yea tall, has black hair, loves to play with soccer balls, and answers to the names Conan, Edogawa, or Tantei-kun." He paused, glancing between the two teenagers, "Anyone seen 'im?"

Satoshi turned and was about to answer when he felt pain shoot through out his body again. "Nooo! Not now," were his last words before a blonde man took his place. As he stood, he grabbed Conan and chucked him at Kid when he was fully standing. "Now then, how about you make like your puppy and get lost, human."

"Oh crap," was all Daisuke could say as he saw Krad. Normally, this would be bad, however, right now, it was very bad. Dark had fallen asleep while they waited for night to fall, so he was currently, well, Darkless. "Now Krad," he said as he made his way toward Kid slowly. "Think about this... do you really want to-"

Kaito's eyes widened as the blue haired teenager suddenly changed into a blonde haired man, but his surprise and dumbfounded shock did not prevent him from noticing the flying detective, and his body was able to react on instict and catch the unconcious child before they were bother bowled over onto the dirt ground. As it was, Kid remained upright, but was knocked to his knees in order to support the sudden weight of the child. There were three words that came to mind as he knelt there, processing the sequence of events as the red-head crept closer to him and away from the blonde man--Krad if he had heard correctly, "What. The. Hell!?"

"-kill me, do you? "

"Oh, not you, human," Krad said as he streached out his wings. The white wings contrasted against the night beautifully, like a flame in the night. Krad reached up and drew a feather and focussed his energy on it, turning it into a sword. "I am just going to kill Dark. Now, be a dear and bring him out, wont you?"

Daisuke let out a shaky breath as he continued to back up. He then turned around and looked over at Kid. "Um, take care of Conan-chan!" Was all he said before he started to run.

Kaito clutched Conan tighter to his chest, the unresponsive child a dead weight in his arms. He knew that they weren't the blonde man's targets, but he didn't understand why he'd take the time to lure him out here, only to turn on what seemed to be his friend. Then again, the blonde one looked like a raving lunatic, so maybe it was a normal occurrence. He also could not just sit tight and watch someone try and kill another, like the lunatic seemed to be getting ready to do. But then again, he didn't have a lot of his equipment with him (most of it needed repair or restocking after the crash the night before, his special cards had been ruined by the water!) and he had the kid to think about, so he didn't have many options. Chibi-Tantei-kun had some interesting equipment, if he remembered correctly, but almost all of it was tailored for the grade-schooler, and as such couldn't be used by him. Except for...maybe... Kaito eyed the boy's limp wrist and the watch he still wore on it. If he was correct, there was at least one dart left in that thing...

"DARK!" Daisuke yelled as he ran in circles trying to get away from Krad. "Wake up! Krad is here." Daisuke's calls went unanswered as the Phantom thief continued to sleep. "Lazy thief," he yelled as he ducked, the sword coming close to cutting off his head. "Krad! I am not your enemy! At least, technically I'm not..."

"You're still Dark," the blonde said as he grabbed a feather and threw it at the teen, missing his neck by near centimeters. "I want to kill Dark, I will kill Dark. Either way, you still die, either in your form or his." He smirked as he saw some of Daisuke's hair turn purple. "And here he comes now. Come out, DARK MOUSY!"

"I'm here, Krad, stop yelling," the thief said as he rubbed his tired eyes. "Daisuke did enough of that trying to get me up..."

Kaito took advantage of the other shape shifter's appearance to pop the watch open and aim it much like he'd seen Tantei-kun do to him so many time. He had the demonic white angel in his sights, and when the purple haired one spoke, he pressed the button on the side, the small, imperceptible yet potent dart fly through the air, aimed squarely at Krad's neck.

Dark watched as Krad fell limp from the tiny tranquilizer dart and arched an eye brow. "And I was woken up why?" He scratched the back of his neck and walked over to the fallen angel who had turned back into Satoshi. "Poor little police man... whatever are we going to do?" He laughed and turned, freezing when he noticed KID and Conan. "Shit," he said as he pointed at Kid. "What the hell are you doing here?! How much did you see? Stupid question, you probably saw everything... Oh I'm going to kill Krad..."

These types of things continued to pour from the thief's lips as Wiz hopped over the KID and Conan and poked Conan with his nose. "Kyuuu?"

"I came here for this." Kaito pointed to the still limp boy in his arms, "Apparently your friend over there kidnapped him and then sent me a note in the paper, only to turn on you when I actually got here. And yes." He paused for dramatic effect, "I DID see everything, and I'm completely and utterly confused." Kaito laughed, but it was not an amused laugh, more of an ironic one, "I've seen many strange things as a magician, but I'd have to say this takes the cake, throws it in my face, and then licks it all clean." He suppressed a shudder at the mental image, and looked down at the rabbit thing, "Yep, the cake is definitely long gone."

"Yeah, I like cake," Dark said as he walked over to Kid and touched his head, sending a jolt of energy through his body. The boy fell limp and landed on his back so Conan was not crushed. "And I like doing that." He then touched Conan's head and did the same thing.

'Dark,' Daisuke said in his mind. 'What are you doing?'

'Suppressing their memories,' Dark said as he grabbed the two and Wiz turned into his bird form. 'We can't have them involved, Daisuke.'

Daisuke was silent and Dark nodded before he flew off. He placed Conan by a random school and placed KID on a random roof. Then he went back and got Satoshi and brought him to his house. After all that was done, Dark flew home, eager to just go to bed and forget about the whole incident.

Shiko (1:05:26 AM): WHOOTS!!! NEXT ARK

Katreal(1:06:33 AM): now we gotta fix some stuff XD

Alrighty, as to who played what part…

Shiko: Dark, Daisuke, Krad, Satoshi, Wiz, and random police officers

Katreal: Kaito/Kid, Conan, and all the other miscellaneous Detective Conan and Magic Kaitou characters

This story is done, but there is a sequel in the works…well, it's in idea form anyway.

Kat's Edit: If it's confusing, please tell us why…that way we know what to revamp once school gets out and either Shiko or I decides to spend the time to redo it. As it is, after two people telling us it is confusing, I went through and changed the separators a little bit, so maybe that will help…


End file.
